Austin

"Hey! I'm home!"

Matthew entered the front door of the house, moving quickly to the kitchen. In his arms were bags of groceries for the next week or so.

"Strange," he thought, "normally the house is more noisy."

"Al?" He yelled. "Alfred? Where are you? Al?"

Matthew set the bags down on the island and noticed a sticky note stuck to the far corner of the marbled surface. It was addressed to him, written in Alfred's messy handwriting. Matthew picked up the little note and quickly read it. Suddenly he dropped to his knees as tears started to streak down his face.

Alfred had left him, his lover and boyfriend of about two years, and had gone off to some unknown location. Alfred said in his note that he had to clear his troubled mind and he had to get away. He didn't even leave a number that would allow for Matthew to contact him. Matthew would later assume that Alfred went back to Texas, Austin specifically, since he always talked about it and how he would love to take Matthew there.

It wasn't until a year later that Matthew heard from his lover again…

Spring…Alfred hated the spring. It meant allergies, dust, and spring cleaning, but the one thing he hated the most was the love. He hated how everyone around him had someone to love and cherish. When he would go for his morning walk through the park near his house he would see them, all the lovers hugging and kissing each other. How he longed for that felling of happiness.

It was noon and Alfred had begun his spring cleaning session. While clearing out his closet, he stumbled upon an old shoe box. Opening it he was greeted with pictures of a time before he had moved to Austin almost a year ago. He took the box out of the bed room and went into the living room of his apartment. There he emptied the contents of the box and carefully examined each picture.

As he looked, he noticed a common theme. The pictures all contained him and some other person. It was the same man in every picture and yet who was he…?Then it hit him. The other man in the pictures was Matthew…the one he had left over a year ago. The one he loved but abandoned because he felt that Matthew deserved something more. How could he have forgotten his lover of almost two years? Alfred suddenly felt the urge to call his old flame, to see if he had forgotten him and had moved on or something to that effect. Wracking his brain, Alfred eventually remembered the correct telephone number (which surprised even himself) and dialed it on the nearest phone. He didn't know what to expect...What would he say to his old boyfriend if picked up? Would Matthew even remember him? Alfred began to panic just a little before reminding himself that he had to this.

"For closure." He told himself "For closure. He's probably has forgotten about me anyway."

The phone rang three times and went directly to the answering machine. What he heard shocked him to the very core.

"If you're calling 'bout the car I sold it. If this is Tuesday night I'm bowling. If you've got somethin' to sell you're wasitn' your time, I'm not buyin'. If it's anybody else, wait for the tone, you know what to do. And P.S. if this is Austin, I still love you."

The phone that had once been in his hand suddenly clattered on the floor. Alfred stood there in shock, his mouth hanging open a little. Why? Why would someone stay faithful to him for that long? It was almost over a year since he had seen Matthew, let alone talk to him. And yet…and yet the other still stayed and hung onto him even though he had left him behind. What kind of person would do that, especially one in Matthew's case? Someone who cared and loved him that much would, Alfred concluded finally. He decided to wait a couple of days to call his old lover up again. It gave him time to think about why he had left Matthew in the first place as well as think about Matthew's actions a little more.

It was Friday, three days after Alfred had found the shoebox and the last line he had of his forgotten lover. After work, he rushed home and grabbed the phone, almost sliding into the kitchen table in the process. He dialed the number he now clearly remembered and knew by heart and hoped that Matthew would pick up the phone. Once again, Alfred was sorely disappointed when after three rings the call went to the answering machine. He did however have a backup plan so he waited for the tone and was surprised to hear something new…

"If it's Friday night I'm at the ballgame and first thing Saturday, if it don't rain I'm headed out to the lake and I'll be gone, all weekend long. But I'll call you back when I get home on Sunday afternoon. And P.S. If this is Austin, I still love you."

When he heard the tone, Alfred left his number and nothing more. He hoped that as soon as Matthew got home, he would see that he had a message and would call. All that was left for him to do was wait, wait until Sunday evening. Alfred could already tell that it was going to be a long weekend but at he knew what he was going to tell Matt…

It was Sunday evening and Matthew walked into his apartment door. He gently placed down his fishing gear and took his cooler full of fish to the freezer in the kitchen. He placed the box down onto the counter and went to the back door. Once he opened it, a large white dog lumbered inside.

"Kumajirou! I missed you so much!" Matthew bent down and gave the dog's head a hug. "Did you miss me too?" Kumajirou gave a soft woof that almost sounded like a "Who?" and lumbered to his pillow near the T.V.

After his brief display of affection to his dog, Matthew began to put the fish away in the freezer. When he passed by his phone, only then did he see the little flashing light on his answering machine. He went over and pressed the play button and listened to his only message.

After the message ended, Matthew felt tears run down his face. It had been so long since he had heard from Al, let alone had anything that would have given him a clue to where his lover was. Matthew quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the number Al had given him. He waited anxiously for the other man to pick up his phone and what he eventually heard almost made him break out in tears again…

"If you're callin' 'bout my heart it's still yours. I should've listened to it a little more. Then it wouldn't have taken me so long to know where I belong and by the way, boy, this is no machine you're talkin' to. Can't you tell, this is Austin, and I still love you."

"Yes," Matthew replied after the other had stopped speaking, "I still love you too."